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MASANIELLO

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 835 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MASANIELLO , an See also:

abbreviation of ToMMASO ANIELLO (1622–1647), an See also:Amalfi fisherman, who became See also:leader of the revolt against See also:Spanish See also:rule in See also:Naples in 1647. Misgovernment and fiscal oppression having aroused much discontent throughout the two Sicilies, a revolt See also:broke out at See also:Palermo in May 1647, and the See also:people of Naples followed the example of the Sicilians. The immediate occasion of the latter rising was a new tax on See also:fruit, the See also:ordinary See also:food of the poor, and the See also:chief instigator of the See also:movement was Masaniello, who took command of the malcontents. The outbreak began on the 7th of See also:July 1647 with a See also:riot at the See also:city See also:gates between the fruit-vendors of the environs and the customs See also:officers; the latter were forced to flee, and the customs See also:office was burnt. The rioters then poured into Naples and forced their way into the See also:palace of the See also:viceroy, the hated See also:Count d'Arcos, who had to take See also:refuge first in a neighbouring See also:convent, then in See also:Castel Sant' Elmo, and finally in Castelnuovo. Masaniello attempted to discipline the See also:mob and restrain its vandalic instincts, and to some extent he succeeded; attired in his fisherman's garb, he gave audiences and administered See also:justice from a wooden scaffolding outside his See also:house. Several rioters, including the See also:duke of See also:Maddaloni, an opponent of the viceroy, and his See also:brother Giuseppe Caraffa, who had come to Naples to make trouble, were condemned to See also:death by him and executed. The mob, which every See also:day obtained more arms and was becoming more intractable, terrorized the city, drove off the troops summoned from outside, and elected Masaniello " See also:captain-See also:general "; the revolt was even spreading to the provinces. Finally, the viceroy, whose negotiations with Masaniello had been frequently interrupted by fresh tumults, ended by granting all the concessions demanded of him. On the 13th of July, through the See also:mediation of See also:Cardinal Filomarino, See also:archbishop of Naples, a See also:convention was signed between D'Arcos and Masaniello as " leader of the most faithful people of Naples," by which the rebels were pardoned, the more oppressive taxes removed, and the citizens granted certain rights, including that of remainingin arms until the treaty should have been ratified by the See also:king of See also:Spain. The astute D'Arcos then invited Masaniello to the palace, confirmed his See also:title of "captain-general of the Neapolitan people," gave him a See also:gold See also:chain of office, and offered him a See also:pension. Masaniello refused the pension and laid down his dignities, saying that he wished to return to his old See also:life as a fisherman; but he was entertained by the viceroy and, partly owing to the See also:strain and excitement of the past days, partly because he was made dizzy by his astonishing See also:change of See also:fortune, or perhaps, as it was believed, because he was poisoned, he lost his See also:head and behaved like a frenzied maniac.

The people continued to obey him for some days, until, abandoned by his best See also:

friends, who went over to the Spanish party, he was murdered while haranguing a mob on the See also:market-See also:place on the 16th of July 1647; his head was cut off and brought by a See also:band of roughs to the viceroy and the See also:body buried outside the city. But the next day the populace, angered by the alteration of the See also:measures for weighing See also:bread, repented of its insane fury; the body of Masaniello was dug up and given a splendid funeral, at which the viceroy himself was represented. Masaniello's insurrection appealed to the See also:imagination of poets and composers, and formed the subject of several operas, of which the most famous is See also:Auber's La Muette de See also:Portici (1828). See See also:Saavedra, Insurrection de Napoli en 1647 (2 vols., See also:Madrid, 1849) ; A. von See also:Reumont, See also:Die Caraffa von Maddaloni (2 vols., See also:Berlin, 1849) Capasso, La Casa e famiglia di Masaniello (Naples, 1893) ; V. Spinazzola, Masaniello e la sua famiglia, secondo un codice bolognese del sec. xvi. (in the See also:review Flegrea, 1900) ; A. G. Meissner, Masaniello (in See also:German) ; E. Bourg, Masaniello (in See also:French) ; F. Palermo, Documenti diversi sulle novita accadute in Napoli l'See also:anno 1647 (in the Archivio storico italiano, 1st See also:series, vol. ix.). See also NAPLES.

End of Article: MASANIELLO

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